Xi Hui Ooi, an eighth-grader from Mission, Texas and an 8th grade student at South Texas Preparatory Academy in Edinburg, Texas, has been named second-place winner in the 2015 Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life Essay Contest sponsored by Major League Baseball and Scholastic Inc.

Xin Hui was notified on April 6th of her accomplishment by her English teacher at STPA , Patricia Power. She received a new laptop computer, a tablet for her teacher, a class set of the book Promises to Keep by Sharon Robinson, daughter of baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson, and Breaking Barrier t-shirts for herself and classmates.

Xin Hui separated herself from approximately 20,000 other entrants received from across the United States by writing about her determination to overcome the issues she faced as a Chinese immigrant into a largely Hispanic elementary school, while continuing to maintain her pursuit of academic excellence and high levels of achievement. “When Ms. Power asked us to write for the contest, it was to give us an authentic audience to motivate us to edit and revise carefully. I followed her advice and did my best. It’s still like a dream come true to know that I really won!” Xin Hui plans to attend Science Academy in Mercedes next year, with an eye on becoming an engineer of computer software.

In its 19th year, the Breaking Barriers essay contest asks students in grades four through nine to submit an essay describing their perseverance in overcoming barriers or obstacles they have faced or are still facing in their lives by using the values demonstrated by Jackie Robinson as he broke baseball's color barrier. These values are commitment, citizenship, courage, determination, excellence, justice, persistence, teamwork and integrity. Further information regarding this national writing contest is available by accessing Major League Baseball’s Community Page online.